Category: Science

Of all the things that haven’t happened, these are the things that haven’t happened in the Ocean so far this year

Posted on By Southern Fried Science
Blogging, Climate change, Conservation, Exploration, Featured, Science

In the past, we’ve done a little write up whenever some exaggerated of fabricated piece of ocean news crosses our desk. This year, we’re going to try something new. A one-stop, periodically updated clearinghouse for all the things that did not happen in the ocean this year. A shark did not impregnate a stingray Some … Read More “Of all the things that haven’t happened, these are the things that haven’t happened in the Ocean so far this year” »

No, a shark did not get a stingray pregnant. But what really happened is pretty cool!

Posted on By David Shiffman 1 Comment on No, a shark did not get a stingray pregnant. But what really happened is pretty cool!
Science

A North Carolina aquarium has reported that a round stingray named Charlotte, the only member of her species living in her tank, is pregnant. An animal becoming pregnant without a mate (and in this case, at an inland aquarium hundreds of miles from the ocean, and thousands of miles from any wild round stingrays) is … Read More “No, a shark did not get a stingray pregnant. But what really happened is pretty cool!” »

“If that’s so important to shark conservation, why have I never heard of it?”

Posted on By David Shiffman
Blogging, Science

In which I attempt to answer an interesting question I received during a public talk. Much of the focus of my career in shark research, policy, and communications has been influenced by my time doing public science engagement on social media. I’ve attended dozens of scientific conferences and conservation policy meetings, I’ve spent thousands of … Read More ““If that’s so important to shark conservation, why have I never heard of it?”” »

It is your ocean. You should have access to the tools to study it.

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Climate change, Conservation, Education, Exploration, Featured, Science

The structure of scientific inquiry has coalesced around a model that is, in general, both expensive and exclusive. This centralizes knowledge production within a circle of individuals, organizations, and institutions which rarely reflects the breadth of identities, experiences, and ways of knowing of those most directly connected to the places being explored. Nowhere is this … Read More “It is your ocean. You should have access to the tools to study it.” »

Want to join the Cephalosquad? Fight the Kraken!? Listen to a D&D Podcast!?!? Start here!

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Popular Culture, Science

It finally happened. Three years after Chris Parsons and friends announced their podcast on this very blog, I have joined the Cephalosquad (I actually joined almost a year ago, but we have A Backlog). Meet Patches Tenderfoot, a rabbitfolk necromancer who believes that if he delves deep enough into the arcane arts, he can de-extinct … Read More “Want to join the Cephalosquad? Fight the Kraken!? Listen to a D&D Podcast!?!? Start here!” »

The world’s largest cold water coral reef lies beside the first experimental deep-sea mining test site

Posted on By Andrew Thaler 1 Comment on The world’s largest cold water coral reef lies beside the first experimental deep-sea mining test site
Exploration, Featured, Science

In a region once thought to be so ecologically uninteresting that it was viewed as a useful testbed for deep-sea mining equipment, NOAA researchers have detected what could be the world’s largest cold water coral reef. “For years we thought much of the Blake Plateau was sparsely inhabited, soft sediment, but after more than 10 … Read More “The world’s largest cold water coral reef lies beside the first experimental deep-sea mining test site” »

Deep Ocean Exploration needs to move beyond Imported Magic

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Exploration, Featured, Science

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that deep ocean exploration is an expensive endeavor. Vessels, instrumentation, deep-submergence vehicles, and analytical tools are costly to run and the specialized training needed to maintain that equipment is often a career in itself. Deep-sea research cruises are among the most logistically complex peacetime operations in human history. When access to … Read More “Deep Ocean Exploration needs to move beyond Imported Magic” »

Conservation, Technology, and the Future of the Seafloor: My 2023 science year in review.

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Academic life, Science

2023 felt like a year where I was just treading water. I barreled through it so fast that I barely registered everything that we accomplishes (and just how much is left to finish). This was a kludge year for me, with lots of small projects instead of one, big, overarching project. Onwards! Deep-sea Mining remains … Read More “Conservation, Technology, and the Future of the Seafloor: My 2023 science year in review.” »

Finding Megalodon at the bottom of the sea

Posted on By Andrew Thaler
Featured, Science

Since the first Challenger Expedition, deep-sea explorers have recovered shark teeth from the bottom of the ocean. Sharks shed their teeth almost as much as Twitter sheds users after changing its name to the symbol synonymous with closing your browser. Shark teeth crop up in deepwater trawls, geologic samples, and even embedded in the core … Read More “Finding Megalodon at the bottom of the sea” »

Oh Hell No: Ten Years of SharkNado

Posted on By David Shiffman
Featured, Popular Culture, Reviews and Interviews, Science

Summer 2023 marks an important cultural milestone. That’s right, it has now been ten years since the release of SharkNado, which became a full-blown franchise with six movies, tens of millions in ad revenue and merchandise sales, real-world references in the floor of Congress, and near-universal awareness- all things that are otherwise unheard of for … Read More “Oh Hell No: Ten Years of SharkNado” »